Abstract:

In our life, some people prefer more masculine faces while some favor feminine faces instead. A lot of research has been dedicated to explain this disagreement and obtained inconsistent results. A meta-analysis was conducted to explore difference preference for sexual dimorphism in male face shape, and the factors affecting this preference. Through literature retrieval, 23 cases and 56 independent effect sizes together with 8408 participants which met the inclusion criteria of meta-analysis were selected. The result of funnel plot and Egger’s intercept illustrated that there was not publication bias. Main-effect test findings demonstrated that there was no significantly preference for masculinity or femininity (Odds ratio point estimate = 0.95). The moderator analysis revealed that menstrual cycle, computer graphics methodology moderated the preference, however, the culture background, participant’s gender, relationship context had no significant moderate effect. Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that people’s preferences for sexual dimorphism in male face shape is not only influenced by biological factors (Menstrual Cycle) of themselves, but also modulated by graphics methodology.

Key words: sexual dimorphism, masculinity, femininity, facial attractiveness, meta-analysis